Thursday, November 19, 2009

Blog award!

Today we have been at a party hosted by Le Look, a fashion streetstyle website of Barcelona, has been interesting ... I hope to have photos soon to show you what it was.

But while I want to thank the lovely Sher from Beneath the Crystal Stars for giving me this award ...Thank you very much indeed!


I'm supposed to have ten things about me, try to accompany it with pictures to make it more entertaining ...

1. I've been collecting Vogue magazine for over ten years. I started to read it when I was fifteen and until today, I'm still a faithful reader!

2. Although I am a psychologist, I aspire to work as coolhunter because I love fashion and I find it a very interesting work...
This cat is so cool XD

 3.I dream of living in Stockholm, but first I would also like to live in London.

 

4. I like chocolate but I eat it only in tablet, cakes or hot cup ... I do not like in milkshakes or ice cream!

 

5. I love reading, when a book grabs me, I cannot stop reading ... sometimes I do not sleep to continue reading!!
 

6. I can recite all the dialogues from Gone with the wind. I've always dreamed of playing Scarlet O'Hara.

 

7. I collect comics, I enjoy them very much and at my house I've got a huge shelf with hundreds of different collections: from USA to European comic... and Japanese manga, too. I think that comics are another kind of art!
Batman is one of my fvourite characters!

8. I really miss my friends and my family from Algeciras and Granada, but here in Barcelona I have too many people that I want and that are important to me!

 
 
 

9. Sometimes I use a sleeping mask to sleep, because I like everything's dark when I'm sleeping...


10. The next 9 of December I will turned into 28 years ... I feel old... but happy!

 

All the pictures are from weheartit except the one from London and my friends, of course!

And now, I pass this lovely award to Sistinas from Girls that Glitter love the Dark (a lovely and very intelligent friend who I expect to meet in person one day!) and to Little Circe/Esther from Mad World (she writes in spanish but you should try to translate what she writes with google translator; her texts are really cool!)

Thanks for reading and I hope you had fun!!

Fun Food Survey and I've got crabs!!!

I read ktbwood's answers to this survey cycling around blogland and thought it was fun, so here are my responses...

Favorite food to crunch - Terra Vegetable Chips...beyond addictive
Favorite comfort food - homemade chicken noodle soup! Extra celery, carrots, and noodles, please!!
Favorite picnic lunch - mini cracker sandwiches with meat, cheese, hummus, and guacamole!
Best summer snack - fresh fruit smoothie made from mango, mixed berries, papaya, and bananas!!
Favorite winter snack – steamed chai tea and a cinnamon biscotti

Food that reminds me of the ocean - all the ones I love: CRAB, shrimp, mussels, scallops, fish...
Most likely to eat for lunch - leftovers - mmm!
Least likely to eat for lunch - anything fast food! Too costly health-wise and money-wise!
Food that makes me gag -any organ meat....grosssssssss
Food tradition I love - wine with dinner : )
Soup or salad - before a meal - salad, as a meal - soup!
Favorite breakfast food -old-fashioned oats made with skim milk + pumpkin butter, turbinado, a pinch of brown sugar, and chopped pecans
Favorite ethnic cuisine – Mexican! I'm a sucker for tacos, guac, and salsa...what can I say?

Favorite vegan ice cream flavor -Vanilla!
Favorite type of chocolate – Uhhh, any. But as for candy bars - KitKat. I love wafer + chocolate.
Favorite beverage - Zevia
Smooth or crunchy peanut butter - definitely smooth!

Copy the survey into your blog, answer, post, and leave me a comment to link back to and read your responses!! 

Question: If you could only choose ONE food to be your absolutely, all-time favorite...what would that food be?
 Me: king crab!

I HAD to come back and edit my post. Husband just walked in the door...he bought dinner. CRAB! Not king, but CRAB!!!!!! Oh the irony...oh the bliss! 
Now I really don't want to go to boot camp...jk :) 



He literally came in the door with grocery bags and whipped out crab legs! What a guy!



Mmmmmmm!


Tomorrow's Friday!!!!!!!!

Chicken & Prosciutto Borsetti with Bacon and Peas

     

     
The more I learn about Italian food, the more I learn about the subtleties of cooking, the little things that added together build up to make a dish go from good to excellent. I learned this same lesson racing sailboats on the Chesapeake Bay. A fast sailboat isn’t fast at the beginning, or doesn’t jump ahead at the end, but is incrementally just a little faster so that by the end of the race it has achieved a dominant lead. For Italian food, I think of fresh ingredients, of course vital for any dish. I also think of how less can be more, like less sauce in a pasta dish then you might think. But also proper ingredients, such as pairing the shape and texture of the pasta with the consistency of the sauce, and ensuring that all of the pasta is tossed and individually coated in the sauce. Perhaps in the less is more category are sauces not based on tomatoes. Italians many times will coat their pasta in nothing more than oil and cheese, or perhaps butter and an herb, such as sage. Chicken stock can also be a sauce, though for me it needs help to give me the interest I need in a dish. This recipe pairs a tortellini type pasta (borsetti is my favorite) in a chicken stock-based sauce with bacon and peas. I actually am not a big fan of peas, but I always put them in this dish for their visual color and because I think I should. My favorite part though is the bacon, and any sauce started with bacon will be good with me. This recipe is quick, easy, colorful and hearty. I suggest you give it a try for a quick mid-week meal.
    
Ingredients:
1 lb chicken and prosciuto borsetti, or other desired tortellini
4 slices of bacon, diced
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  
Directions:
In a medium pot, boil water and cook pasta. Meanwhile in a skillet over medium-low heat, cook bacon, rendering fat and ensuring bacon is nearly fully cooked. Pour off all but a tbsp of bacon fat and add onion, cooking a few minutes to soften. Add chicken stock and scrape bacon bits from the bottom of a pan. Simmer a few minutes and then add peas, cooking a few minutes more. When the pasta is cooked but still firm, transfer pasta with a slotted spoon to the skillet with the sauce. Turn off heat. Stir into sauce 3 tbsp of grated Parmesan. Serve by spooning pasta and sauce into bowls. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over bowls.
     

Saigon Pomodoro Night

Thanks Oji and Kate for the photos

I call this dinner night a Pomodoro night. I cooked my specialty the Pomodoro sauce. All made from natural tomatoes, basil leaves, tomato sauce and olive oil with my spices. My guests were my two college friends back home. We all graduated from the same University and same degree which is Bachelor of Fine Arts major in Advertising. My two friends are Oji and Paolo. Paolo came with his girlfriend Kate. It's a small world that Kate and my good friend Anton were classmates during college at De La Salle University. Oji and Paolo are also here in Vietnam working in the same industry where I work. We are all advertising people. This dinner is their first visit and I think I didn't fail them with the simple meal I prepared.

My Spiced Chicken is little but very tasty :p

The meal with the bread and Olive oil with Balsamic Vinegar

The Dinner feast that the four of us enjoyed :p

They all told me that the dinner was great! Whenever I see Paolo he often asks me when I will cook my Paella for them. I guess I have to find first where to buy Saffron here. On the other hand Kate was joking Oji that he never ate any spaghetti without any meat before. Good thing Oji had his two round or three with my meatless Pomodoro Sauce. I am glad everyone had a blast! Thanksgiving is near and I am planning to have another intimate dinner with another set of close friends. I hope I can cook my Paella this coming weekend.

Enjoy your dinner mates!

hugs,
joanie xxx